When Ahmad Bradshaw scored with 57 seconds left in Super Bowl XLVI to give the Giants a 21-17 lead, most people were relishing another comeback win for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Instead, the Giants defense rose to the task and knocked down a fourth-down pass by Brady, cementing not only the Giants' second Super Bowl victory over the Patriots, but a second Super Bowl MVP trophy for Manning, who finally shook off the label of Peyton's little brother. Manning completed a 38-yard pass to Mario Manningham to get the winning drive going, the second straight Super Bowl that Manning had thrown a pass that required a miracle catch.

The win was voted The Morning Call's No. 4 regional sports story of 2012.

The Giants became the first-ever seven-loss team to win the Super Bowl. They advanced to the big game by a route almost as miraculous as the one that saw them advance to the playoffs. They had a four-game losing streak down the stretch and lost five of six before falling to 7-7 and in danger of missing the playoffs altogether.

Instead, they secured a 29-14 "road" win over the Jets at MetLife Stadium, then thrashed the Cowboys 31-14 to earn the NFC East title despite a 3-3 record within the division. It was the only playoff spot secured by an NFC East team, and it came on the last day of the season.

The Giants had lost 27-20 at San Francisco in the ninth game of the season, and 38-35 to Green Bay in the 12th game of the season before going 3-1 in their final four games, with a pair of those wins coming against Dallas.

The Giants whipped the Atlanta Flacons 24-2 in their only home game of the playoffs, and then went on the road to upset Green Bay 37-20 at Lambeau Field and NFC-favorite San Francisco 20-17 in overtime before taking on New England in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, with the same result that took place between the two teams in Super Bowl XLII.

The NFC Championship Game-winning 31-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes was set up when Devin Thomas recovered a fumbled punt return by Kyle Thomas that was forced on a hit by Jacquain Williams. Manning threw for 316 yards in that game despite being sacked six times, and notched Giants single-game records for completions (32) and passes (58) and did not throw an interception.

Wide receiver Victor Cruz emerged as a top receiver during the season, setting a Giants record with 1,536 receiving yards on 82 receptions. His breakout performance came in Game 3 during a 29-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Cruz caught touchdown passes of 74- and 28-yards from Manning and had three catches for 110 yards.

Hakeem Nicks caught for 1,192 yards as two Giants receivers broke the 1,000-yard mark in the same season for the first time in the franchise's history.

With big Brandon Jacobs as the Giants battering ram for the running game, and Bradshaw adding more of a scat back option, the Giants running game never hit high gear, even in the playoffs, but the passing game and a strong defense led by Justin tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora and linebackers Michael Boley and Chase Blackburn (signed from inactivity after Thanksgiving due to injuries) provided adrenaline that allowed the Giants to go 3-1 down the stretch of the regular season and 4-0 en route to the team's fourth Super Bowl title, and eighth overall NFL Championship.